blue_dolphin

I like these vintage pyrex pie plates with the fluted edges. I keep an eye out for them at thrift shops and garage sales and have amassed enough of them that I don't need to worry if I don't get one back after gifting a quiche or pie. Edited to add that I follow the usual cautions for glass bakeware and have avoided explosions.

I like cottage cheese with fresh, ripe melon and have been having it for breakfast and lunch a lot lately since my CSA has been loading me up with melons. I like it to have a tangy flavor that contrasts with the melon.

I've tried Two Buck Chuck and I can't call it the worst wine I've ever tasted. It's innocuous, boring, soul-less and entirely uninteresting. I have no desire to drink it again but "worst-tasting?" No. That honor (horror?) goes to something that tasted like a watered down blend of kerosene and vinegar. It was about 20 years ago at a tourist trap "farmhouse" cafe outside Athens on a cruise tour and had the same lingering, oily mouthfeel that Panaderia Canadiense describes above. Awful, awful, awful. Two Buck Chuck could never be so memorable !

Excellent idea, judiu! Serious Eats had a recipe for a fig and goat cheese puff pastry tart last week that I'd love to try as a quesadilla.

I usually use various leftovers but I liked both of the recipes I tried from an LA Times article that Russ Parsons wrote a while back. The article, The California Cook: Quick and Delicious Quesadillas included recipes for: Quesadillas stuffed with mushrooms and goat cheese Quesadillas stuffed with greens and feta

This probably falls into the boring vodka-lemon category but I really like the combination of rosemary and lemon in the Tuscan Rosemary Lemon Drop, particularly the bright rosemary note released when the the fresh rosemary gets shaken with the cocktail. Maybe you could make less boring in some way?

Years ago, I had an Oster blender and loved how well the mini blend jars (or Mason jars) worked for blending small amounts. I've got a Blendtec but keep thinking of picking up an old Oster for this purpose.

Not sure if these guys are thinking about actual peach-bourbon combos or just want to drink bourbon at this time of year but I tried this peach and rosemary bourbon cocktail from Serious Eats this evening. A lovely, lovely flavor combination. The recipe calls for muddling 4 ripe peach slices with 1/2 ounce rosemary simple syrup and then shaking with: 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice 1 1/2 ounces bourbon The peaches from my tree ripened a few weeks back and are no more so I used some slices that I'd frozen and they pretty much disintegrated during the muddling process. They were dead ripe when picked so they contributed great flavor but the result did NOT flow easily through a strainer. Also I prefer the bright flavor that results from shaking fresh, tender sprigs of rosemary with ice to that of a cooked rosemary simple so I used 1/2 ounce of vanilla simple and added several sprigs of fresh rosemary to the shaker instead of making the rosemary simple. Very, very nice. I'll try again with some fresh peaches but I'm not sure they'll approach the flavor of my frozen, but home grown, perfectly ripe fruit.

I know that feeling of drowning in greens – my winter time CSA boxes are stuffed with greens! Sounds like you’ve got lots of good uses for them already but here are a couple of my standbys. This recipe from Deborah Madison’s Savory Way: Pasta with Cranberry Beans and Greens is one of my regulars. The leftovers get parceled out into single serving containers and frozen for lunches during the week. I also love a simpler spaghetti with greens, garlic, red chili flakes and toasted pine nuts. I love the Swiss Chard and Smoked Trout Bruschetta that I mentioned above and posted over in the appetizer thread. When I’m prepping chard for the bruschetta or something else, I often take an extra bunch (or 2 or 3) of greens through the wash, blanch, chill, squeeze and chop routine. Then either package up portions directly or sauté with a little garlic. Keeps for several days in the fridge or longer in the freezer. For the freezer, I smush it out flat in a ziplock bag so I can break off what I need. When the greens are really overflowing, that means I have to start eating them for breakfast so I’ll use some of those prepared greens to scramble with eggs (or tofu), fill an omelet or make a nest for a poached egg. I also use any and all greens in quiche. At the moment, I’m awash in melons - I’ve gotten Galia, Saticoy, Ambrosia and both pink and yellow seedless watermelon in recent CSA boxes. I’ve been eating melon and cottage cheese for breakfast and lunch and I put some cubes in the freezer to try a frozen melon margarita but I swear, they’re multiplying in my fridge!

I have been getting local SoCal sweet corn in my CSA box for the last month and it's been good. I thought the fresh corn in TJ's last week looked pretty good too but I didn't try any. But nothing compares to the sweet corn memories from my childhood growing up in northern NY. Mr. Cooper would pick corn for his farmstand in the late afternoon - folks from town bought the corn picked that morning but us locals knew to wait until just before dinner so it was less than a hour from the field to our plates. The barest touch of tooth to the cob would cause the delicate pearly kernels to explode with sweetness and flavor. The corn I get these days has great sweetness and good flavor but is not quite so supremely tender as my old summer memories. But isn't that always the case ....

What Creme de Violette did you buy and how do you define "full" of?

That does sound good, kayb! I've been doing something similar, enjoying my homemade peach liqueur (based on the recipe here on Serious Eats but infused for about a week and not sweetened as the peaches from my tree were very ripe and sweet) with sparkling water and a squeeze of lime. Last night, I used it in something like the Queen Eleanor martini variation 1.5 oz gin (Plymouth) 0.5 oz dry vermouth (Dolin Dry) 0.5 oz creme de peche (homemade) dash celery bitters (used orange bitters: Fee's/Regan's mix) The "something like" part is because I have no celery bitters and used orange bitters instead. I don't think I'd like this with a very sweet peach liqueur but my homemade stuff brought a lot of peach fragrance without any cloying sweetness so I thought it worked well.

Chris is right. Keep checking on Amazon. I saw the "Currently unavailable...We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock," one evening about 2 weeks ago. The next morning, they showed one in stock so I ordered and received it in a couple days. Later that afternoon, Amazon showed 10 in stock.

I've been trying some of the recipes from last Friday's WSJ article, Summer-ize Your Spirits and thoroughly enjoyed Awry One, credited to Greg Best of Holeman & Finch, Atlanta. It's 1.5 oz rye whiskey (I used Rittenhouse BIB), 0.5 oz Luxardo Bitter (I subbed Campari), 0.5 oz lemon juice, 0.25 oz simple syrup and 2 dashes orange bitters, served up and garnished with mint.

I was at Bed, Bath and Beyond today and checked out the range of 1, 2, 4, Pyrex measuring cups on display. All were the older, more conventional style (like this), save a single 1-cup unit in the newer, more conical shape so it seems they are still available in some locations, at least.

It's indeed very tasty. One of those things that's more than the sum of its parts. And as long as the toast is nice and crispy, they hold up pretty well over a cocktail hour or so and are a good option for the non-dairy crowd (I tend to use cheese in many apps because I love it so much). But I must confess to taking the easy way out with TJ's tinned smoked trout. I'm sure it would be much better with your own, something I've never tried - almost all smoke in my kitchen is purely accidental !

I started off my long holiday weekend with one of the drinks from yesterday's WSJ article Summer-ize Your Spirits. A number of them sound appealing but I picked Adriatic Dreams (which the article credits to Bryan Dayton of Oak at Fourteenth, Denver) to use up a few almost over ripe strawberries. It starts with muddling a strawberry and adds 1.5 oz white rum, 0.5 oz each aperol, lemon juice and agave nectar plus orange bitters and mint leaves before shaking with ice. I cut the agave nectar to 0.25 oz and thought it was plenty. As strawberry drinks go, I'd prefer a pour of Tequila por me Amante over ice with a squeeze of lime but this was pleasantly fruity, but not cloying, afternoon sipper.

Oh figs! That looks beautiful. I am impatiently waiting for the figs from my (non-fig-loving) neighbor's tree to ripen. I got more chard in my CSA box last week and once again used it in one of my favorites, Bruschetta With Swiss Chard and Smoked Trout from the NYT. I blanch, drain and chop the chard then and sauté it with garlic in olive oil. Then toast some nice crusty bread, rub with garlic, drizzle a little olive oil. Top with some of the chard, smoked trout and a squeeze of lemon just before serving. The chard can be prepped ahead, stored in the fridge and used over several evenings…..or even for breakfast!

I can’t believe I’m posting in this thread as I have no baking cred whatsoever and am amazed by the creations I see posted by the rest of you but I wanted to credit tikidoc and Kerry Beal for the wonderful cream scones I made this morning. Today’s our last work day prior to a one week holiday shutdown and my little peach tree was laden so I thought I’d treat my group to breakfast. I provided a huge bowl of sliced fresh peaches, tubs of Greek yogurt and some homemade granola, along with 2 batches of the cream scones that tikidoc posted over here in Kerry and Anna’s blog last month. I added orange zest, dried cranberries (plumped in a little OJ) toasted pecans and a little rosemary. Yummmmmm! Everyone raved! And easy enough that even I could pull it together before work. Sorry, I forgot to snap a photo but I will surely be making these again. I’m thinking dried tart cherries, walnuts and chocolate chips would be a winner. Thanks to tikidoc for posting the recipe and to Kerry for posting about them during her blog.

Hmmm. I think I'm a little behind here. No picture of last week's box of Yukon Gold Potatoes, Romaine Lettuce, Gold Beets, Japanese Turnips, Kohlrabi, Red Chard, Yellow Wax Beans, Orange Carrots, Blackberries and Zucchini. This week's box: Clockwise from top: green leaf lettuce, purple carrots, mizuna, pickling cukes, blackberries, strawberries, rainbow chard, Blue Lake green beans in the center and spring onions hiding under the beans. Kay, that beet salad sounds good! I made some harissa a while back and have been looking for more opportunities to used it.

15 more for me since I last posted in this thread. Most recent is Katie Loeb's Shake, Stir, Pour - Fresh Homegrown Cocktails. Up to 101 on Eat Your Books.

Just recently I've been craving a curried chicken salad that I haven't made in ages. I like the chicken torn into random sized pieces rather than diced. Chopped green apple Halved red grapes A bit of mango chutney A little diced red onion (or shallot) or not Mayo mixed with some freshly toasted curry spices I think that's right but I haven't made it in so long, I'll have to give it a go and taste and see if anything's missing...celery.....walnuts?

Thank you. I had no idea such a thing existed but I can imagine they'd be a great addition to lots of cookies and bars....and of course, breakfast!

Beautiful scones! What's a cinnamon chip?

Nice score on the smaller bottles of Chartreuse! My local shop carries the green in a 375 mL but not the yellow and I've been reluctant to fork over the bucks for the larger one. I vote for a Final Ward. One of those perfect cocktails that's more than the sum of its parts, IMHO. My haul today: Accompanied in the photo by an Aprilia to try out the grapefruit bitters and Cocchi Americano